e-mail: keithconning@aol.com.
I have been a fan, athlete, coach, official, prep editor, author, blogger, and photographer since 1953.
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Sunday, January 29, 2017

Gators Post Six National Top 10s in Razorback Invitational Finale

Florida added to its already impressive list of men's top 10s, while its women got on track after an up-and-down start to the season

By Zach Dirlam | Saturday, January 28, 2017

Sharrika Barnett took the 400 meters title with the No. 3-ranked time in Division I this year.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Florida logged six times and marks ranked in the NCAA Division I top 10, including a national lead from KeAndre Bates, and it posted eight times and marks to the program's all-time indoor top 10 to close the highly-competitive Razorback Invitational Saturday (Jan. 28) evening.

After tying his triple jump personal record of 16.42 meters (53 feet, 10.5 inches) on his fourth jump, Bates broke off a 16.66-meter (54 feet, 8 inches) leap on his next run. Bates' new PR improved his No. 5-ranked mark on UF's all-time indoor top 10, and tied Arkansas' Clive Pullen for the national lead.

Also in the triple jump, sophomore Yanis David topped her PR by a centimeter and her season-best by two centimeters to win the competition. David's top mark of 13.51 meters (44 feet, 4 inches) improves her hold on the No. 2-ranked mark in Division I.

The men's and women's quarter-mile races produced national top 10s from sophomores Sharrika Barnett and Kunle Fasasi, both of whom also moved onto UF's all-time indoor list.

Barnett won the women's invitational 400 meters with a time of 52.07 seconds, decimating her previous indoor PR of 53.25. The time is ranked fifth on the school's all-time indoor top 10, and ranks third nationally.

Fasasi took runner-up honors on the men's side, but his time of 46.02 ranks him ninth in program history and No. 2 in Division I this year. The Nigeria native also clocked a 4x400 relay split of 45.16, the third-fastest leg by anyone in the field, to help Florida post a time of 3:07.11—which makes the Gators the No. 4-ranked relay team in the nation.

Senior and Puerto Rican Olympian Andres Arroyo took the 800 meters crown in 1:47.25, just 1.05 seconds off the school record he set last season. This is the second consecutive year Arroyo broke 1:48.00 in January, a good sign seeing as he entered the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships with the third-fastest qualifying time.

HEARING OUT (COACH) HOLLOWAYCoach Holloway on the performances Saturday…"Very productive day. Very proud of Taylor Tubbs in the 3k, thought Hannah Brookoverdid well for her first 3k indoors. Andres Arroyo did a great job. He's never been that fast this time of year, so the future is bright for him. Ryan Clark got a little better today. Very proud of Ryann McEnany and what she did in the hurdles. Kunle Fasasi in the 400—new personal best—as well as Sharrika Barnett. The PRs were just rolling all over the place today. KeAndre with his PR in the triple jump. Both the relays ran well. The women were DQed, but we know we can (run 3:33) now. Very proud of the men, because there's a lot left there. Also Yanis David with a great triple jump. We're getting better."

Holloway on whether he feels the team has taken his message of improving every day to heart…"Absolutely. When you stop and think about where we were two weeks ago, and the thoughts some people had—even some people in our camp—that we weren't very good, I guarantee you those thoughts have changed. As a coaching staff, we just asked them to trust us. Very proud of the fact everybody continues to trust us, continues to get better, and we just have to go back to Gainesville and continue to do that. We've still got a lot of work to do. Four weeks from now, we will be at Vanderbilt for the conference meet. Still a lot of time to get better and keep working."

Holloway on if there are any areas of concern at the moment…"Not really. We're still not executing well in the short sprints or hurdles. I'm not sure why that is. The workouts are going well, it just isn't showing up in the meets. That's on me. I coach those areas so I have to get that figured out. Other than that, things are rolling along really well."